Heading Original Cast 2, the 27th annual S.T.A.G.E. show, is a slate of Tony-winning performers, including stage legends Carol Channing (Hello, Dolly!), Tyne Daly (Gypsy), Rita Moreno (The Ritz) and Robert Morse (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying), who will re-create numbers from their Broadway musicals. The one-night-only performance, benefitting AIDS Project Los Angeles, will be held on Saturday, April 2, at the Luckman Auditorium on the Cal State LA campus.
Betty Garrett
The Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event will be dedicated to the memory of musical-comedy star and long-time Event Co-Chair Betty Garrett, who died February 12 at the age of 91. Garrett, who had appeared in 22 previous S.T.A.G.E. events, was preparing to perform a number for this year when she passed away. A musical retrospective honoring her is being planned as part of the show.
Director David Galligan shares his memories of working with her. “She would try anything. I doused her with fluorescent paint, turned out all the lights for a kitchy-koo duet with a glimmering annelid in a tribute to Johnny Mercer’s ‘Glow Worm.’ She cracked the whip and shed some Bo Peep hoop skirts to appear as a leather-clad dominatrix in a Harold Arlen evening. She laced up her mid-calf roller skates for a wheel-propelled ‘U-N-C-O-U-P-L-E-D’ (by Andrew Lloyd Webber) but not before she had a bloody encounter with a brick wall.
“There was no end to her S.T.A.G.E. madness. I sawed her in half for a Stephen Schwartz encounter and in retaliation she used the F-word on me. She soft-shoed with aplomb while balancing herself with a walker in ‘Broadway Baby.’ She sang and danced to any number of variables. She never said no. And when the voice gave out, she mouthed to one of her records. I thought she’d live forever.
“I wish she had.”
Carole Cook will be doing a number with Lee Roy Reams from 42nd Street. She was rehearsing with him over the phone in New York just before recalling a favorite story about her friend. “My stories about Betty are endless!” she begins. “Some funny, some sad and everything in between. There are some I choose not to tell! We were dressing roommates for many years in S.T.A.G.E. While we sat there waiting for our entrances, we would talk about everything. And to pass the time, we would often take our eyebrow pencils and paint happy round faces on our tits, howling with laughter at what we created! But, as the years passed, those chubby happy faces turned into wrinkled old men with long beards!
“One night in the early years, we were putting on our underwear getting ready for the show and she said, ‘Carole, look at us! We know we’ve got it! We can put our pants on the floor, put in one leg at a time and pull them up without leaning against a wall, holding onto a table or sitting on a chair.’ As the years flew by, we often congratulated ourselves for being able to do that. However, we began to notice (without mentioning it to each other) that while pulling up our pants, we started to lean against a wall, hold onto a table or sit on a chair. Then, one magical night, we both fell down at the same time. We screamed with laughter. Betty pulled herself up on one elbow, looked at me knowingly and said, ‘It doesn’t matter, Carole, we’ve still got it!’”
Mary Jo Catlett, who is performing “I Would Trust Her,” a duet with Doug Carfrae from The Pajama Game, recalls, “Betty and I had lunch one day in San Francisco. I remember it was a beautiful experience. My best memory is the part where we both extolled the virtues of peanut butter.”
Charlotte Rae is singing “The Ballad of Dependency” from Threepenny Opera. She says, “Aside from all her extraordinary talents and accomplishments, the bottom line is Betty was always warm and loving and giving of herself. I’m so grateful she was part of my life.”
And Bill Hutton, recreating “Close Every Door” from his Broadway originating title role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, says, “She was a consummate professional whose talent and fortitude gloriously shined through all of her work, teaching each of us what it means to be an actor and entertainer. She did all of that with the kindest of hearts, demeanor and great humor, something we all strive for. We will miss her so…”
Other artists, who donate their time and talents to this event, will perform songs from shows with which they are associated. Among them are Jonelle Allen (Two Gentlemen of Verona), Obba Babatunde (Two Gentlemen of Verona), Liz Callaway (Baby), Philip Casnoff (Chess), Patrick Cassidy (42nd Street), Barbara Deutsch (Godspell), Willy Falk (Miss Saigon), Danny Gurwin (Little Women), Jane Kean (Early to Bed), Dale Kristien (Showboat), Vicki Lewis (Funny Girl), Sean McDermott (Showboat), Patricia Morison (The King and I), Pamela Myers (Company), Stephen Nathan (Godspell), Jennifer Paz (Miss Saigon) and Valarie Pettiford (Fosse).
Betty Garrett
Galligan, who has produced and directed the show since its inception, will be assisted by Mary Ekler as music director with choreography by Lee Martino and Dan Mojica. Jon Maher will do sign language interpretation.
S.T.A.G.E., the world’s longest continuously running AIDS event, has raised millions of dollars for HIV/AIDS organizations throughout Southern California over the last 28 years. Net proceeds from Original Cast 2 will go to APLA, one of largest non-profit AIDS service organizations in the United States, which provides bilingual direct support services, prevention education and leadership on HIV/AIDS-related policy and legislation. Founded by four friends in 1982, APLA is a community-based, volunteer-supported organization with local, national and global reach.
All photos courtesy of Chris Kane Photography LLC – www.chriskanephotography.com
Original Cast 2, produced by David Galligan, Rodney Gould, Robert Haynes, Jonathan Kanes, David Michaels and Ted Seifman for S.T.A.G.E., plays Sat., April 2 at 7:30 pm. Tickets: $75-$220. A silent auction will commence at 6 pm with a wine reception. Luckman Fine Arts Complex, 5151 State University Dr., Los Angeles. For tickets, advertising or sponsorship information, call 866-679-0958, visit www.stagela.com or email mcacciatore@apla.org.
